Stuck in JFK

Your everyday actions can affect the entire world.

I am sitting in Terminal Four of JFK, as I will be for the next four hours and nine minutes because I just missed my flight by one minute. Northwest Airlines has a policy that if you don't check in up to 30 minutes before your flight, they can give your ticket away. My flight was at 12:26 PM. Racing from Far Rockaway, I ran up to the kiosk and swiped my card at exactly 11:56 AM, which according to my teacher in 3rd grade, is exactly thirty minutes prior to my flight.

Unfortunately, the kiosk directed me to a ticket agent, who very unapologetically told me that he couldn't help me because the machine locked him down already. That was the exact moment that machine took over man, and as a consequence our planet is doomed to be run by machines within a few short years. (Some people think the world is already run by machines such as cell phone, computers, and gaming consoles. They say that these machines rob people of their privacy, dignity, and family life. When hundreds of people waited outside in a queue for days on end to buy a Playstation 3, I started to see their point.)

So I sat down in those plush comfortable airport benches and started to wait. Since I was located near a security checkpoint I got to watch the following exchange. A young man had just bought a drink from one of the many stores lining the terminal. As he got to the checkpoint they told him that he couldn't bring his newly acquired drink with him due to new security measures. The man didn't look like he could afford to toss the soda he just paid $3.75 for, but he needed to go through to make his flight. So he started arguing with the TSA (Transportation and Security Authority) official that it isn't fair that people sell sodas all over the terminal without warning customers that they will have to part with their purchase five yards down at the security checkpoint. The TSA official, in common bureaucracy fashion, replied, "Well, you should've checked the regulations on TSA.org."

Every good action that we do elevates the entire world and every bad action that we do brings the entire world down with us.

I was not about to get up and try to arbitrate between a very angry man and a very adamant bureaucrat, but I started thinking, "How did this all happen? Why are we not allowed to bring any liquids past security unless its less than 3 oz. and stuck in a Ziploc bag that you can buy from the closest stand for a hefty 89 cents?" Then I remembered the terrorist plot foiled in England, in which they found a large number of terrorist who were planning on blowing up many planes simultaneously using volatile liquids as bombs. One group of ten to 15 bad men try to do a bad thing, and billions of travelers all over the world have to suffer the discomfort of very strict liquid regulations on all flights! (I think Air Uzbekistan didn't adopt the regulations so getting through their security is probably a breeze.)

This reminds me of a teaching of our Sages which at face value seems hard to understand, but using this as an analogy it becomes clear. The Sages tell us that we all have incredible spiritual powers; every action we do has an effect on the whole world. Every good action that we do elevates the entire world and every bad action that we do brings the entire world down with us.

Here in Terminal 4, I was getting a simple yet powerful example of how the actions of a few individuals, negatively impacted so many around the world. With today's technology, examples of this concept abound. With one click of the mouse a hacker can release a virus that will destroy people's computers all over the globe, yet with a different click, a lecturer can launch an MP3 or an article into cyberspace where it will touch millions.

There is a phenomenon in the world of physics called "the butterfly effect." This refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different.

Our physical world is likened to a smoky mirror, which reflects the image of the real world, the spiritual world. Just as our body is a slightly contorted image of our real self -- our soul, so too is our physical world a blurred image of the inner spiritual world. And just as in the physical world simple actions can impact the whole world, so too in the spiritual world every simple action we do has an impact that reverberates throughout the cosmos.

This knowledge is extremely empowering. It helps us realize that the small actions that we do can have a big ripple effect.

At work, you go over to a harried co-worker and give him a compliment, mention how you notice he is working so hard, and what a good job he is doing. This really lifts your co-worker's spirits, and when he comes home that night, he spreads the positive energy by telling his wife how much he loves her and that she looks great. She's a little surprised by the praise, but later when talking to her son, she remembers to tell him that his parents are proud of all the hard working he has been putting into school lately. The kid blushes and says, "Aaww... it's nothing," but later when he is on the phone doing homework with the class nerd he says, "You know what, man? You're all right." This is the biggest compliment that the boy has received in three years! So he, in turn...

You get the idea. The story continues on and on. And it was all started by one small action on your part.

The Sages teach that "doing one mitzvah leads to another mitzvah." This can be understood to mean that when I do one mitzvah, it causes others to do mitzvot as well. My act of kindness can inspire other to act kindly, and soon the chain takes on a life of its own.

The action that started the chain may not seem glamorous, but then again neither does a butterfly flapping its wings. Yet the consequences can be significant. So let's be a little more mindful today in starting the "mitzvah effects" that will make this world spin on a more positive axis.

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About the Author

Leiby Burnham, CSW, is a rabbi, psychotherapist, and writer. He lives in Detroit with his wife, an ICU nurse, who is on strict orders to "leave her patients at work" and their three daughters, Orah, Shifra and Rachel. Rabbi Burnham works for the Jean and Theodore Weiss Partners in Torah program of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, where he does community outreach, and runs a Jewish educational programs at University of Michigan, Wayne State, and Oakland University. He taught learning-disabled high school students for eight years in NYC, while receiving Rabbinical training at Shor Yoshuv Institute, and obtaining his Masters in Social Work from Yeshiva University.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 11

(11)
Dror Maor,
January 8, 2007 10:09 AM

Lesson for LIfe

We can take R. Burnham's analogy to the butterfly and use it in our daily lives - both in interactions with God, and in interactions with our fellow man.

(10)
Rob van Dijk, Amsterdam, Holland,
December 28, 2006 11:39 PM

Thanks!

(9)
sara,
December 28, 2006 10:50 PM

i agree

i am sorry the tacher had such snappy co-workers, however i have seen the "pay it forward" effect take place. many years ago i was a toll collector, i always smiled and was cheery. at least 10 years after i quite working there i was visiting my aunt in another state when her daughter who was visiting out of state called me there. a couple stopped by her friends house and they all got to talking about people from their past they wonder about when this other guest of her friend says that she often wonders where the toll collector {fitting my discription} from my old tolls was at that moment because i left such an impact by my smile and cheer - to which my cousin laughed and told her where i was. you never know how lasting one simple kindness is!

(8)
Anonymous,
December 25, 2006 10:42 AM

nonsense

TSA regulations are pure nonsense. They are designed not for security but to condition the masses for a police state.

(7)
Bob,
December 25, 2006 8:13 AM

Beautiful article - beautiful lesson

Yes, those little things do add up - and, as you pointed out - both personally, and in how it touches the lives of so many others. Thank you for such a thoughtful, and thought-provoking article.

(6)
Anonymous,
December 24, 2006 9:34 PM

What about those who cannot take a compliment?

I would love to unconditionally agree with the point of the story that a compliment will in turn lift the recipient's spirits, and they in turn will do something nice to another, and so on and so on.More than once, as a teacher, I had complimented a colleague's work...a sincere complimenet for work well done or a monumental effort. In more than once situation, the recipient "snapped" at me with "what did YOU mean by that?" with an air of angry suspicion. On another occasion when someone had gone beyond the call of duty, I complimented the young woman teacher and others nearby ridiculed her efforts, etc. I, at times, hesitate to compliment almost in fear of having the opposite effect occur. I guess my concern is, what can one do about those who do not seem to know how accept a genuine compliment? Sometimes it then makes me feel lousy.....I don't like to be snapped at, yelled at and , while it may be a case of misunderstnding on the part of a recipient, it makes me feel lousy. Don't I need to be concerned about my own emotional spirits?

(5)
Devorah,
December 24, 2006 8:05 PM

awesome!!

(4)
Manasseh,
December 24, 2006 5:46 PM

A Gold Chain Reaction

Rabbi Leiby,All I can add is what is says in;proverbs 25:11:"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver".>Well this butterfly has some flapping to to do.Toda Rabbi.

Since honey is produced by bees, and bees are not a kosher species, how can honey be kosher?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Talmud (Bechoros 7b) asks your very question! The Talmud bases this question on the principle that “whatever comes from a non-kosher species is non-kosher, and that which comes from something kosher is kosher.”

So why is bee-honey kosher? Because even though bees bring the nectar into their bodies, the resultant honey is not a 'product' of their bodies. It is stored and broken down in their bodies, but not produced there. (see Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 81:8)

By the way, the Torah (in several places such as Exodus 13:5) praises the Land of Israel as "flowing with milk and honey." But it may surprise you to know that the honey mentioned in the verse is actually referring to date and fig honey (see Rashi there)!

In 1809, a group of 70 disciples of the great Lithuanian sage the Vilna Gaon, arrived in Israel, after traveling via Turkey by horse and wagon. The Vilna Gaon set out for the Holy Land in 1783, but for unknown reasons did not attain his goal. However he inspired his disciples to make the move, and they became pioneers of modern settlement in Israel. (A large contingent of chassidic Jews arrived in Tzfat around the same time.) The leader of the 1809 group, Rabbi Israel of Shklov, settled in Tzfat, and six years later moved to Jerusalem where he founded the modern Ashkenazic community. The early years were fraught with Arab attacks, earthquakes, and a cholera epidemic. Rabbi Israel authored, Pe'at Hashulchan, a digest of the Jewish agricultural laws relating to the Land of Israel. (He had to rewrite the book after the first manuscript was destroyed in a fire.) The location of his grave remained unknown until it was discovered in Tiberias, 125 years after his death. Today, the descendants of that original group are amongst the most prominent families in Jerusalem.

When you experience joy, you feel good because your magnificent brain produces hormones called endorphins. These self-produced chemicals give you happy and joyful feelings.

Research on these biochemicals has proven that the brain-produced hormones enter your blood stream even if you just act joyful, not only when you really are happy. Although the joyful experience is totally imaginary and you know that it didn’t actually happen, when you speak and act as if that imaginary experience did happen, you get a dose of endorphins.

These chemicals are naturally produced by your brain. They are totally free and entirely healthy.

Many people find that this knowledge inspires them to create more joyful moments. It’s not just an abstract idea, but a physical reality.

Occasionally, when I walk into an office, the receptionist greets me rudely. Granted, I came to see someone else, and a receptionist's disposition is immaterial to me. Yet, an unpleasant reception may cast a pall.

A smile costs nothing. Greeting someone with a smile even when one does not feel like smiling is not duplicity. It is simply providing a pleasant atmosphere, such as we might do with flowers or attractive pictures.

As a rule, "How are you?" is not a question to which we expect an answer. However, when someone with whom I have some kind of relationship poses this question, I may respond, "Not all that great. Would you like to listen?" We may then spend a few minutes, in which I unburden myself and invariably begin to feel better. This favor is usually reciprocated, and we are both thus beneficiaries of free psychotherapy.

This, too, complies with the Talmudic requirement to greet a person in a pleasant manner. An exchange of feelings that can alleviate someone's emotional stress is even more pleasant than an exchange of smiles.

It takes so little effort to be a real mentsch.

Today I shall...

try to greet everyone in a pleasant manner, and where appropriate offer a listening ear.

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